Duren v. State

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice GRANT.

Todd Michael Duren appeals his conviction and mandatory life sentence for capital murder of a child. He was convicted of knowingly causing the death of Damon Chamless, a child under the age of six, by inflicting severe blunt trauma to the child’s head.

Duren contends that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to support the jury’s verdict, that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of a prior extraneous offense, that his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and that he received ineffective assistance of…